I believe a lot of this expectation is that as people replace Google searches with LLMs, or even enriched LLM results pushed at the top of Google results, far less click through to the actual sources happens.
This is happening across a lot of web verticals that previously relied on excellent SEO ranking and click through performance to drive ad revenue/conversions/sales. I have direct knowledge of some fairly catastrophic metrics coming out of knowledge base businesses; it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest that something like Tailwind is suffering a similar fate.
I think this author is comically misguided about the speed at which oil extraction happens in Venezuela. Even if the plan was to pay for everything with Venezuelan crude sales, I don't believe ~$30MM/d is going to move the needle much.
I feel sorry for this guy. His Reddit inbox is probably fucked, and he's absolutely going to get doxxed and hounded by news people, and I wouldn't be surprised if even worse things happened to him.
Good on him for reporting what he saw. He also went to the police the next day and reported it directly. But now the media machine is going to make him regret he ever said anything, which is unfortunate.
He’s already public, but he can make a new Reddit account.
> Now the media machine is going to make him regret he ever said anything
We’ll see how it turns out, but I don’t see why even the internet mob would hate him. He probably can’t live in Brown’s basement anymore, but maybe with the reward money and recognition he can find a real place.
1. How do you intend to pay for it?
2. How do you intend to enforce it?
3. How do you intend to defend it?
How many tanks can you deploy? IFVs? Artillery? How much ammunition can you supply? How many fighters are in service and mission ready? Bombers? Tanker aircraft? Transport? Helicopters? How many battalions (of any type) can be formed/deployed?
Repeat the same exercise in the context of a navy.
3. Defense strategy shifts from NATO's "US-centric" model to a distributed European capability matrix:
Start with French and U.K. nuclear deterrence as foundation. Layer in proven European systems (Rafale, Gripen, Leopard) while rapidly developing next-gen capabilities through joint programs. Think European DARPA meets industrial policy.
Key force multipliers: integrated air defense spanning the continent, standardized logistics, shared intelligence platforms, and fully interoperable command systems. Defense partnerships with Canada/Australia/New Zeland/Japan/South Korea/Taiwan provide complementary capabilities and strategic depth.
No US kill-switches means full sovereign control of systems. Distributed manufacturing ensures supply resilience. Distributed architecture rather than centralized hub-and-spoke.
This model isn't about matching US or legacy NATO capabilities 1:1, but creating a robust, autonomous system that potential adversaries can't easily disrupt or defeat. European industrial and technological capacity makes this feasible - we just need the political will to execute.
We would use something similar to the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to fund this initiative - like a EU Marshall Plan, and, cooperate across partners’ ample industrial capacity:
If we can make cars, airliners and cruise ships, we can make military equipment.
Swedish gear is actually a good template: license manufacturing of what’s needed criss-crossing the Alliance, and joint develop new generation equipment and technologies as necessary.
After all, it’s being done since Concorde and goes on today - we just need to increase the scale.
2. Enforcement follows naturally from the funding mechanism:
Access to joint funding, industrial cooperation, and defense capabilities is tied directly to maintaining democratic standards. Very simple - fail the democratic checks (Rule of Law index, ICC membership, etc.), and your access to the system's resources and voting rights gets restricted - like originally mentioned.
Continue backsliding on democracy? The restrictions escalate proportionally. This creates both carrots (access to shared capabilities) and sticks (potential exclusion) that make democratic standards self-enforcing through practical incentives rather than just moral arguments.
The Orbán playbook stops working when undermining democratic institutions has immediate defense and industrial consequences. It's a more robust enforcement mechanism than the EU's current Article 7 process.
Bonus: Times have indeed changed - Trumpist chaos (came back to bite us and) is upon us. It is high time our security Alliance evolves from anti-communism to effective upholding of Democracy.
An overwhelming majority of democratic countries in the world recognize the ICC.
Why accept exceptionalist members any longer?
In short,
- NATO: Accept compromised / exceptionalist members for strategic advantage.
- This proposed new Alliance: Democratic standards ARE the strategic advantage.
Apple iPhone 14 and later (including Plus, Pro & Pro Max), Google Pixel 9 (including Pro, Pro Fold, & Pro XL), Motorola 2024 and later (including razr, razr+, edge and g series), Samsung Galaxy A14, A15, A16, A35, A53, A54, Samsung Galaxy S21 and later (including Plus, Ultra and Fan Edition), Samsung Galaxy X Cover6 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 and later, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 and later and REVVL 7 (including Pro)
I have it on my Pixel 9 Pro XL right now and have had it since the end of January. Worked well so far for me in the country where Tmo typically has had dead spots, if not a little slow.
Moving the goalposts? The point I was refuting was "Any benefits Iridium was supposed to provide are currently achieved by Starlink", but Iridium offers services today which StarLink does not.
It's only for texting so it doesn't really matter. That said Iridium is so slow it's mostly only useful for texting type situations as well. Even the voice is so heavily compressed and laggy as to be mildly unpleasant to use.
Considering you can fly from London to Chișinău for around £36 at present ($45) on a low cost EU airline, then it probably isn't. The Telegraph is a right leaning newspaper for a wealthy readership, so their travel articles offer luxury. (The details of the holiday provider mention 4 star hotels.)
Plenty of indie travellers potter around in Eastern Europe via flight hops or train, and could spend a similar amount for a whole summer's travel.
Same, but my Turkmenistan LoI took over 4 years and several attempts to get (us passport holder). It has been by far the most problematic and difficult country for me to gain entry to. DPRK, Iran, etc all were substantially easier. My DPRK one was not an issue in the slightest, maybe 1-2 month turnaround from the tour company applying.
I physically walked into the Turkmen embassy in Tashkent, handed them my passport with the filled form, and came back a week later. I was surprised, but it was probably the easiest central Asian visa to get.
This is happening across a lot of web verticals that previously relied on excellent SEO ranking and click through performance to drive ad revenue/conversions/sales. I have direct knowledge of some fairly catastrophic metrics coming out of knowledge base businesses; it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest that something like Tailwind is suffering a similar fate.
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